“Baby Reindeer,” written by and starring Richard Gadd, arrived on Netflix this year without any fanfare. A semi-autobiographical story about a struggling comedian who offers tea to a lonely woman, who then begins to stalk and harass him, it quickly went on to become a buzz show and enter Netflix’s Top 10 list of most watched English shows. People were entertained, in an unsettling way, by the honesty and rawness of Gadd’s portraits of both his stalker and himself.
Gadd’s stock went way up fast, and now he is jumping over to HBO, which is going to co-produce his next series with the BBC. It’s called “Lions,” and it’s about a long and complicated relationship between two men. I’d say that it’s about the relationship between two brothers, but note the unexplained quote marks around the word “brother” in the official plot description: “When Niall’s estranged ‘brother’ Ruben shows up at his wedding, it leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives.” Hmm, indeed.
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The show will reach back 40 years to chronicle the bond between the two, which includes their closeness as well as their falling out. “It will capture the wild energy of a changing city — a changing world, even,” the description goes on to say, “and try to get to the bottom of the difficult question, What does it mean to be a man?”
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @MatthewGilbert.